Dysfunction in DC: Disabled veterans held hostage to election year stunt

Now, a “mystery senator” is blocking disabled veterans and their survivors from getting a cost-of-living adjustment to their benefits.

The unnamed Republican — whose identity is known only by a small group of Republican leaders — took advantage of Senate rules that allow any senator, for any reason (or no reason) to slow down legislation.

Sen. Patty Murray (Elaine Thompson/Associated Press)

The result of the pre-election tactic is that 3.9 million disabled veterans and their family members will not receive a modest benefits increase to reflect inflation. Disabled veterans were slated to receive the same annual cost-of-living increase provided to Social Security recipients, which is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.

There is no known opposition to the measure authored by Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee Chair Patty Murray of Washington.

Every Democratic senator has publicly stated that she or he was not blocking the inflation adjustment. No Republican has come forward to explain the action, and GOP leaders have not identified by lawmaker in question.

“This is stunning, particularly because we still don’t have any indication why someone would block a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans and their surviving spouses, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet,” Murray said in a statement released by her office. “This adjustment for our disabled veterans is hard earned and well deserved. My hope is that whichever senator has decided to hold up this bill will at least come forward to own up to it. That way we can move forward to overcome their oppositions and get our veterans the support they need.”

We’ll let you know if we find out the identity of the senator who is playing politics with disabled veterans. We’ll let you know if members of the Senate Republican leadership, including John Cornyn of Texas, identify the lawmaker or have any comment on the situation.